Island, Mexico, but only one of these tags has been 

 returned (Table 1. Appendix Table 9). The tagging 

 was concentrated in April-June (84%), with 10% in 

 August (Table 2). The single recapture was near the 

 easternmost end of the Caribbean coast of Ven- 

 ezuela in December (Fig. 2). 



Eighty sailfish have been tagged off the U.S. 

 coast from Cape Hatteras to Delaware Bay, nearly 

 all in summer, and one of these has been recaptured 

 (Tables 1 and 2, Appendix Table 9). This tag was 

 recovered in March off the Guianas (Fig. 2), about 

 1,920 miles (3,070 km) from the release point, rep- 

 resenting the longest migration yet recorded for a 

 sailfish. 



One return was obtained from only 15 releases off 

 northeastern Florida and Georgia, most of them in 

 the vicinity of Jacksonville. Florida, in June and 

 July (Tables 1 and 2, Appendix Table 9). This fish 

 was recaptured off Fort Lauderdale, Florida, in Oc- 

 tober (Fig. 2). 



Another small group of releases. 18, off Haiti 

 likewise produced a single return (Table 1, Appen- 

 dix Table 3). Most of the releases were in 

 October-December (Table 2), but the recaptured 

 fish was tagged in May. It was recaptured in the 

 release area, off Port-au-Prince, in January (Fig. 2). 



The times at liberty which are available for 

 tagged and recaptured sailfish are summarized in Ta- 

 ble 3. Although the maximum was over 4.5 years, 

 the majority of the times at liberty were of very 

 short duration. Fifty-eight percent were less than 

 6 mo. and 90% were less than 18 mo. 



The methods of recapture, and the nationality of 

 recapturing vessels, are shown in Table 4. Eighty- 

 two percent of the known recaptures were by sport 

 fishermen, nearly all of whom were from the United 

 States. Eighteen percent were by commercial 

 fishermen using various types of hook-and-line gear. 

 Most of these were by Cuban fishermen (nine re- 

 turns) and Venezuelan fishermen (seven returns). 

 Japanese longline vessels produced only one valid 

 return, but also returned a dart found in a sailfish 

 recaptured in the Gulf of Mexico in August 1971. 

 Since the streamer, which carried the serial number, 

 had been lost, the release data were unavailable. 



DISCUSSION 



of sailfish, it is difficult to detect regular patterns on 

 a geographical basis. If one considers water tem- 

 peratures, however, some general tendencies be- 

 come discernible. Eight sailfish tagged in temperate 

 areas (six in the northern Gulf of Mexico, one off 

 Jacksonville, and one off Cape Hatteras) mainly 

 during the warm season (releases between 8 June 

 and 18 October) were recaptured in tropical waters 

 (three off the north coast of Cuba, three off south- 

 eastern Florida and the Florida Keys, and two near 

 the northeastern coasts of South America) mainly 

 in the cool season (recaptures between 10 October 

 and 20 May) (Appendix Tables 6, 9). Five sailfish 

 tagged in tropical areas (four near Palm Beach, 

 Florida, and one off the Virgin Islands) mainly dur- 

 ing the cool season (releases between 8 December 

 and 10 May) were recaptured in temperate areas 

 (three in the Gulf of Mexico and two off the 

 Carolinas) mainly during the warm season (recap- 

 tures from 22 May through 2 August) (Appendix 

 Tables 1,7). 



Some movements within tropical waters may 

 have been parts of similar migrations. Three sailfish 

 tagged off the Virgin Islands in January and Feb- 

 ruary were recaptured as follows: in the Mona Pas- 

 sage (off the Dominican Republic) in March (2.1 

 mo at liberty); in the Yucatan Channel (northeast of 



Table 4. — Tag returns from sailfish released in the west- 

 ern North Atlantic Ocean, by methods of recapture and 

 nationality of recapturing vessel. 





Sport 





Bahamas 



Rod and Reel 



1 



United States 



Rod and Reel 



86 



Venezuela 



Rod and Reel 



2 



Sport total 



Commercial 



89 



British West Indies 



Handline 



1 



Cuba 



Longline 



4 





"Criollo" line 



5 



Dominican Republic 



Handline 



1 



Haiti 



Deepline 



1 



Japan 



Longline 



1 



Venezuela 



"Professional 

 Fishermen" 

 Longline 



6 

 1 



Commercial total 



All Methods 



20 



Grand total 





109 



Migrations 



Although tag returns have produced much infor- 

 mation on migrations (Fia. 2) and local movements 



Figure 2. — Longer migrations shown by returns from sail- 

 fish tagged in the western North Atlantic Ocean. Migra- 

 tions entirely within the Straits of Florida are not shown. 



198 



